Bloomberg pointed fingers and threw out the obligatory 9/11 card during his speech/diatribe delivered from the friendly confines of the NYPD headquarters. Bloomberg's comments hold everyone accountable for the current unpleasantness (and future theoretic unpleasantness) -- everyone but Bloomberg and the NYPD. The arguments Bloomberg uses are so abysmal it's almost possible to believe this is a very broadly played satire, rather than an actual event that actually happened. Just take a look at this statement.

“God forbid terrorists succeed in striking our city because of a politically driven law that undermines the N.Y.P.D.’s intelligence gathering efforts,” he said.

Believe it or not, this is Bloomberg's argument against appointing an independent Inspector General to review police policies. The argument has two parts, both equally awful. The first uses the tired "but terrorism" threat/excuse/cliche. The second part actually makes the claim that an Inspector General would result in other agencies being less willing to share info with the NYPD. That may be true, but why is it true and why is this an "acceptable" truth? To put it in words frequently directed towards US citizens: what do they have to hide?

Bloomberg's words play to the home crowd (NYPD) , but holy shit is that an ugly bit of truth to (inadvertently) drop in the middle of a loaded sentence. If NYPD intelligence gathering is "undermined" by the presence of independent oversight, the problem is with the NYPD and every agency that decideds to cut them out of the loop, willfully endangering the public in favor of CYA opacity.

Bloomberg said more, but this statement is just terrible. It indicates there's an acceptable level of corruption within the police force and that the mayor has no interest in addressing that issue. Everything else becomes so much banality aimed at satiating his audience, a collection of NYPD police chiefs. There's terrorism (again):

“Look at what’s happened in Boston,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “Remember what happened here on 9/11. Remember all of those who’ve been killed by gun violence and the families they left behind.”

OK. And what? Honor their memories by giving the police carte blanche to shove any citizen up against the nearest wall and pat them down? Cover every inch of the city with cameras, microphones and facial recognition software in hopes of "preventing" a statistically anomalous event (and proclaiming victory when the more statistically probable nothing continues to happen)?

To top this all off, Bloomberg steps past the empty rhetoric and defense of shady police "business as usual" to hypocritically deride others for "playing politics with people's lives."

“The attacks most often come from those who play no constructive role in keeping our city safe, but rather, view their jobs as pointing fingers from the steps of City Hall,” he said.

Said the man who is City Hall, pointing fingers from NYPD headquarters.

Bloomberg's statements are ugly, but at least they were delivered out in the open, rather than in a closed-door meeting with the "home team." All of Bloomberg's finger pointing and cheap rationale is a matter of public record. This is a small, inadvertent, victory. Bloomberg wants his constituents' lives to be open books, but wants the NYPD to remain an inscrutable, unassailable means of enforcement and "security." That's a load of crap and Bloomberg seems to be having trouble shoveling it correctly. If he keeps feeling this sort of heat, we may see him slipping into full blown opacity or devolving even further into a ranting apologist for systemic failure.

Yes, the terrorists won...

What we have is the biggest terrorist in the country. He suppressed peaceful protests for "cleanliness" reasons. He's locked up people, ruining their lives for a Drug War that doesn't work. He took bribes from banks to suppress the public he was supposed to serve and his police force has Ann illegal quota system to uphold.

He uses fear and terror like a baron in the time of feudalism deciding to suppress the peasantry with minorities being the serfs in this day and age.

It's time to recognize that leaders like this do not need positions of power. They need to be locked up for their crimes.

name a ban that isn't

so who were the dopes that gave him the job? what other choices were there and, more importantly, what choices will there be come next election? in all honesty, how many times have voters been swept up in the run up talks, then found once it's too late that the person they just voted in is a complete fucking moron?

Re:

Though, I doubt Satan would have tried to ban large sodas.

considering most places in the US allow refills it may be actually a service to the population so they'll save money? I personally don't understand why Americans ask for the big combo when they can drink soda ad nauseam even if they ask for the small glass =/

Re: Yes, the terrorists won...

He suppressed peaceful protests for "cleanliness" reasons.

To be honest those poor protesters were in the middle of Wall Street filth so maybe it was out of good will. I wouldn't bear sharing the same vicinity with the likes of Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and so on...

How would his stop & frisk policy have prevented what happened in Boston? What are the odds that 2 fanatics in a crowd of thousands would have been frisked? Those odds are even higher since the bombers were not black. We went to war against Hitler so we would not have to live in such a police state.
Another question; Was there anything in his ban on the size of soda cups that would have prevented you from buying 2 medium drinks instead of one large one? Would the vender have to interrogate you if the second one was for someone else? Duh!

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Probably controversial

This is probably highly controversial to say, but I'm of the opinion that the 9/11 terrorist strikes weren't a bad thing. Sure, they were awful for all the aftermath like the PATRIOT Act and idiots who willingly gave up freedom in return for invasions of their privacy. Of course it is a tragedy for all the emergency response people, volunteers, and innocent bystanders that were part of the collateral damage, particularly those who survived but now exist with crippling physical ailments. Especially those unable to afford healthcare because greed is an admirable trait in America. But I have no love for greedy capitalists or war mongers, both distinctly lack a functioning sense of morals.

Why 9/11 wasn't a bad thing is this- the World Trade Center was just a bunch of Wall Street assholes. The same sort of people who were gleefully participating in what would turn out to be so reckless as to ruin the USA's economy and in a domino effect severely affect the world economy as a result (and to this day continue to ruin lives without real consequence). And the Pentagon? War mongering doesn't beget peace, love and tolerance, so why feel bad for people who actively work to create misery and devastation of other people? Good riddance.

Re: Bans

Re: Bans

That. But I think he meant bans in general, not scientifically supported bans. Those tend to be reasonable and are actually lacking behind of what needs to be banned entirely or properly regulated (and I'm looking at chemicals used both in the productive chain and as final products only).

Re: Probably controversial

Maybe if the right people were killed in the incidents and not a bunch of innocents just doing their jobs. And honestly, the system is set up, it doesn't matter if you remove a few players. We've reached a point where it is self-sustainable.

...a way out for all conerned?..

All police contact in NYC and everywhere else, should be made on video. The technology is available and cities like Stamford Ct. are embracing it. Surely the technology capitol of the world, NYC should. The camera is worn as part of the officers equipment. What does the mayor of Stamford understand that our mayor doesn't? All stops could then be reviewed and a fair and unbiased assessment made of the stops legality. And we can all move on. - ITWARZ

Re: Yes, the terrorists won...

Bloomberg is the Nanny Asshole ! Want to talk Terrorism how about this......A bunch of New Yorkers finally sick of this Nanny Overlord grab him off the street and take him down to St. Marks.........Force him to drink 32 ounce bottles of Soda.Smoke some Cigarettes.Lay him down next to some of the pan handling scum punks for Take Your Picture With Nanny Mayor....
Thinking of how much fun could be had by New Yorkers sick of this bastard.

...a way out for all conerned?.. Continued...

The PVR-LE2 is the newest generation of wearable police camera designed specifically for organizations, or individuals that need to video document their actions. The LE2 easily clips to a police or security uniform to record the actions of the wearer and those around them. Vital evidence is captured to assist in reporting and for later use in court. The LE2 requires the VERIPATROL software system to securely store and manage video files. The LE2 camera and VERIPATROL software utilizes a Digital Signature process that marks each video with a digital hash certificate to prove that the video has not been altered. The Digital Signature process is FIPS 140-2 compliant. VidLock security prevents unauthorized access if the camera is lost or stolen. The LE2 camera is available in both a green or black lens color. - ITWARZ

Re: Re: Re:

Re: Re: Bans

Speaking of CFCs, don't know if it has ever been covered here but the ban on R-12 (Freon) refrigerant in car air conditioners was because DuPont's patent on it had run out. By forcing the switch to R-134a it started the clock all over again. Freon was patented in early 40s, patents expired by 60s when DuPont introduced (evergreened) a new kind of freon. Then by 1974 (when the new patent was soon to expire) DuPont noticed an article that suggested ozone depletion and came up with the alternative that they claimed didn't interfere with ozone.

I used to run a degreaser at Boeing that used a similar CFC called Perchlorethylene. We were allowed by the EPA to use up to 400 GALLONS per month. Doing the math this one machine could put the amount of CFCs into the atmosphere in a year that would be in over 600,000 cars.

Lost

And this fucking guy is the leader of one of the largest cities in the free world? A fucking pussy, leading an entire city, with a pussy police chief - afraid of fucking everything and in full pursuit of paramatising the existance of a human being living in what used to be the achievement of the ages. Freedom means risk. RISK. Attempt to eliminate risk and what you're actually achieving is a totalitarian, authoritarian and fully controlled existence. BRAV-fucking-O.

Take a god damn hike you piece shit and now before you get some on me.